Chicken Rendang

A very simple rendang recipe to create a rich and flavourful chicken rendang dish. Substitute the meat to make beef rendang or mutton anytime. Traditionally a Minangkabau (Indonesia) dish, variations of rendang are now found throughout Indonesia and also Malaysia.

Ingredients

Background

Rendang is a traditional Minangkabau dish. Over the centuries, the dish has been adapted by local cooking styles and is no longer only found in Indonesia but also other neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore. The time taken to cook rendang is also longer than other curries as it thrives when cooked slowly. The following rendang recipe has been shared by a Malay neighbour using very simple ingredients which can be found anywhere. Checkout the comments and you will know that this is the rendang recipe you must try. The key to rendang are ingredients of quality and also its cooking technique. The tips are shared below:

Chicken rendang, beef rendang or mutton rendang

You may use chicken breast for rendang. The best chicken part for rendang would be its thigh. Feel free to substitute chicken meat with either beef or mutton, according to your preference.

What is in rendang powder or rendang paste?

Kerisik

Kerisik is made by dry frying grated coconut (fresh and frozen) in a pan over medium heat until it browns. Then, it is pounded until it creates a paste as it will release its oil. Using dessicated coconut as a substitute will not create the paste instead it will only be in a powder form which is absolutely acceptable.

Non-spicy rendang

There are a few things to reduce the spiciness of rendang. The first part would be the handling of chillies. Process the chillies to remove the membrane and seeds to reduce the heat. Besides that, adding coconut milk will help to reduce the heat as well.

Dry or wet rendang

In the video, you would notice that there was not much gravy in the dish. If you want the rendang with more gravy, add in some water or more coconut milk. Allow it to simmer until desired consistency. Do note that coconut milk will reduce the spiciness and will make the appearance of rendang much lighter.

Slow cooker rendang

Cook this recipe using a slow cooker. Simply mix all the blended ingredients, meat, coconut milk and water into the slow cooker to cook for 6 hours. The final result is a succulent and tender chicken rendang dish.

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Steps

Step 1/5

50 g coconut (desiccated or grated)

In a dry and clean pan, toast desiccated or grated coconut over medium heat until golden brown. Remove from pan. Pound grated coconut until oil is released. If using desiccated coconut, it should be pounded until fine.